CHILLICOTHE - By year's end, John Hondros hopes to have at least three medical marijuana dispensaries open, but just a handful of years ago, he wasn't even in favor of making medical marijuana legal.

Hondros, the 74-year-old head of the Hondros Family of Companies which includes Hondros College, began to change his mind as the conversation surrounding legalizing marijuana ramped up across the state over the past four years.

"I'm a real believer in medical marijuana, but I'm not an advocate of recreational," he said.

Hondros' entrepreneurial spirit led him to be part of Ohio's new venture by bringing together a team to create Verdant Creations. In June, Verdant was awarded provisional licenses to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Chillicothe, Newark, Marion, and Columbus. Each dispensary is expected to have 10 to 15 associates, and Hondros aims to have the three rural sites open sometime in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Who is John Hondros?

Hondros had been working as an attorney with small business start-ups when 46 years ago he decided to start his own home remodeling business in Columbus. About a decade later, he began the Ohio Real Estate Preparatory School which grew into the Hondros College of Business.

His foray into medical marijuana began a few years ago as he and friends began to learn more about how marijuana could be used medically to help with chronic pain.

His wife, Linda Hondros, then became another source of information when she became the Ohio Chamber of Commerce's representative on the state's medical marijuana task force as lawmakers took up the task to consider legislation to legalize medical marijuana.

"She would come back and would've been listening to some of the parents and other people who testified to the benefits of marijuana, to the illnesses they have," Hondros said.

Hearing of families with children with seizures moving from Ohio to access medical marijuana to help in addition to the beginning of his chronic pain, Hondros' views shifted.

"We kept watching what was going on ... We felt the rural communities were not going to be properly represented with dispensaries," Hondros said.

As a result, Hondros began seeking a team to develop a plan and throw their hat in to be among those the Ohio Board of Pharmacy considered when approving provisional licenses for 56 sites across the state.

Who else is involved?

Hondros sought out names of those with experience in medical marijuana in other states and "probably went through 50 people," he said, before settling on a father-son duo out of New Mexico. Darren White is the chief operating officer, and his son Darren "Indy" White II will be the compliance officer.

"They're really good people, and they're out for the sake of their patients," Hondros said. "This is not a group out there just to make a buck."

The Whites operate PurLife, a licensed nonprofit medical marijuana producer in New Mexico with an indoor cultivation operation, two dispensaries, and plans for a processing facility, Hondros said. The elder White's background is in law enforcement as he led the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and New Mexico State Police for a time before he was appointed then elected as Bernalillo County sheriff.

The younger White is a licensed attorney who is vice president of sales at PurLife. Each he and his father have a 3 percent share of Verdant Creations to Hondros' 94 percent.

In addition to the Verdant Creations dispensaries, Hondros also has a 56.5 percent interest in CareMed Associates LLC which received a provisional license for a dispensary in Cincinnati. Jean Gould, with a 38.5 percent interest, was listed as the primary operator and the Whites each have a 1 percent interest. The two also share a pharmacist, Linda B. Schlemmer.

Verdant's director of patient care is Dr. Robert Richards who has been the medical director for Buckeye Physical Medicine since 2013. Last year, Richards embarked on his own venture, opening Phoenix Recovery Center which provides addiction treatment with the aid of Suboxone at two clinics located in Newark and Dublin.

Hondros is hopeful the use of medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids for pain relief can help reduce the number of Ohioans who become dependent on them.

For his patient education coordinator, Hondros tapped someone familiar to him - Carol Thomas - who has served as vice president and president of the Hondros College of Nursing and director of business development for Hondros College of Business.

An artistic rendering shows the preliminary layout for the waiting area of Verdant Creations' medical marijuana dispensaries.(Photo11: Provided by Verdant Creations)

Why here?

Hondros knew he wanted to focus on rural areas when he applied for a dispensary license, and he looked to communities with which he was familiar. When he first moved to Ohio, he lived in the Ashville area and occasionally made his way south to Chillicothe.

As a practicing attorney, some of his clients were in the Newark area, and he's been an active supporter of the Hartford Fair, Hondros said. While he hasn't had any direct connections to Marion, he said he felt it has "always been a really nice community."

Hondros has yet to reach out to leadership in the communities since his application was among more than 200 vying for licenses across the state and Verdant was awarded the provisional license in early June.

Verdant's Newark location is set to location at 1551 W. Church St., but it is just one of three who were approved for licenses.

The other dispensaries would be located on North 21st Street. One would be operated by Ohio Grown Therapies, LLC at 1246 N. 21st Street, the former home of Valley Lanes. The third dispensary, operated by WGB, LLC, would be located at 1150 N. 21st St., which is the shopping center across the street from the Kroger Marketplace.

How will it work?

Legislation for medical marijuana was passed in 2016 and it's just months away from being fully implemented. The state's timeline aims to have the medical marijuana program fully operational by Sept. 8.

Once patients receive a recommendation, they will need to register with the board of pharmacy annually. If they choose to go to Verdant, Hondros said they will have a consultation with associates trained to help them pick the best product based on their diagnosis and circumstances. The law prohibits smoking marijuana, so products available at all Ohio dispensaries will center on edibles, oils, and vaping.

"We want to make sure we educate out patients to make sure they get the right product," Hondros said, noting the associate positions will be highly paid and require extensive training.